Fifty years ago today - February 25th 1964 - Muhammad Ali took his first step becoming a boxing, and sporting great, by defeating then heavyweight champion Sonny Liston against all odds.

Few gave him a chance. Ali, still then named Cassius Clay, was 7/1 with many bookmakers, 22 years old and seven-and-half pounds lighter than his opponent.

Liston, to the contrary, was brutal. Seventeen months earlier, the Big Bear - who had served a prison sentence earlier in his life for assaulting a police officer - won the heavyweight crown by defeating Floyd Paterson before retaining the title in a rematch just under a year later. The opening bout ended in the first round while Paterson was knocked down three times in the second fight.

Liston wasn't a man to be messed with.

Which makes Ali's win in Miami Beach all the more remarkable. Here was a young man who had won gold in the 1960 Olympics, but was in the early stages of his career.

Both fighters confidently predicted the round in which they would win. Liston two, Ali eight. Few would have disagreed with Liston, few would have believed Ali. Indeed according to Thomas Hauser's biography of Ali, 93 per cent of sportswriters believed Liston would triumph. Surely it was to be a routine win.

(Photo: Rex)

And that feeling grew as the challenger launched a verbal attack on Liston at the weigh-in, with archive footage showing Clay being held back by his entourage. He's said to have shouted: “I can beat you anytime, chump! Somebody’s gonna die at ringside tonight! You’re scared, chump! You ain't no giant! I'm going to eat you alive!"

Confidence or a sign of nerves? Many thought the latter. Yet what followed later that night suggested it was, in fact, confirmation that a soon-to-be boxing great had arrived.

Here's how it panned out: Round one. Clay immediately on the move, hands dropped low. Late blows to Liston. Round two, quiet from both. Round three and Clay lands punches again, cutting Liston below the left eye, with round four quiet like the second.

(Photo: PA)

Then a moment of intrigue still discussed today: Clay's eyes are stinging and he struggles to see. A reaction to something his own camp had used between rounds, or sabotage from Liston's people? Ali begins to find it difficult to see - clearly squinting ahead of round five. Despite that, former heavyweight champ Joe Louis told a huge television audience: "Clay is surprising the whole world."

Onto round five: Clay struggles with his sight, Liston inevitably responds well without landing a knockout blow. Clay recovers, and round six is again quiet.

But with that, the fight stopped. Liston quit on his stool. Officially, a shoulder problem forced its end, but there have been many counter claims since (a rematch had already been planned, Liston hand appeared inebriated ahead of the fight and the suggestion that the heavyweight champion, whose age was always believed to be older, just wasn't up to it any more).

Either way, Liston's demise was to the obvious delight of Clay who charged around the ring chanting: "I'm the greatest." That was to come, but until then defeating Liston here, and a second time a year later, proved to be a significant moment on a long path to becoming one of the world's most iconic sportsmen of all time.